<p class="p1">WELSH — High water and flooding triggered by heavy rainfall and clogged drainage ditches have become all too common, but town officials are working to address the problems.</p><p class="p1">Mayor Carolyn Louviere and Alderman Bob Owens updated residents on plans for a drainage improvement project to help alleviate flooding and address sewer problems.</p><p class="p1">“The drainage and sewerage will flow together,” Louviere said. “What is happening in a lot of places is all the rain we are getting and the drainage is so bad it’s infiltrating into the system.”</p><p class="p1">Just before Tropical Storm Harvey brought heavy rains to the area, the town had several drainage ditches vacuumed at a cost of $4,000. Among the items removed were bicycle parts, speed bumps, cellphones, pistol clips, bricks, asphalt, kitchen utensils, spark plugs and glass bottles.</p><p class="p1">The cleanup will continue throughout town, Louviere said.</p><p class="p1">“As we get the money we are starting to target these things,” she said. “We want to do everything we can.”</p><p class="p1">The drainage project will take care of some of the sewer problems because drainage is running into the sewage and filling it up, Owens said.</p><p class="p1">Owens said the town has been broken down into quadrants with each area to be surveyed for elevation. The survey for each quadrant will cost the town about $15,000 each, he said. The quadrants are based on what the town has perceived as priority areas.</p><p class="p1">The project also calls for designing and building a system with trunks along the lateral lines to make sure they efficiently drain each quadrant, Owens said.</p><p class="p1">“We’ve got the plan and we are now in the process of having the people come and do the survey,” he said. “The drainage problems have been heard and we are in the process of doing it, but it is just going to take time and money. We’ll get one done, then go to another one.”</p><p class="p1">Town engineer Bryon Racca said the project is part of a study conducted four years ago that identified the first phase of the northwestern quadrant of town as the priority area. Preliminary assessments also identified what is called critical passes, he said. Surveys will have to be done on the elevation, pipe sizes and locations of structures.</p><p class="p1">“Once we get the survey back we can go back in and do designs to see what should be there, rather than what is there,” Racca said.</p><p class="p1">Residents are urged to contact the town if they have sewer or drainage concerns.</p>